Best M42 Mods

[djmossm42]

CAI does nothing and advancing the intake cam only moved the powerband up higher, really stupid to do if you use it as a street car.

CAIs work as long as it's designed right and it actually gets colder air than whats in the engine bay. Most of the CAIs out there put the inlet in the hottest locations under the hood unless you build a good shield. Others introduce bends which create too much resistance (some resistance in the system is good though). In my previous cars I've always had good luck with a drop in filter and modifying the stock setup.

So I decided to do the same with my E30. I noticed the airfilter box has a 3" to 2.5" inlet tube coming out of it pointing toward the hole in the back of the headlight cover. I just connected the dots and there is a definite difference.

For about $100 you can go to PepBoys and get the following

K&N drop in filter ~$50

APC 3" extendable tubing $20 (consider getting some clamps)
*I'm now using a piece of PVC and just a small section of the flexible tubing to reduce turbulence in the tube as well as making it less temperature sensitive*

APC 6"- 3" cone inlet $20

Some, or most of you that are running projector style lights may not be able to do this the same way I did. You may have to ditch the cone.

I'll do a proper write up with more pics soon. But it's pretty simple to figure out. Basically replace the stock inlet tube with a 3" straight tube and put a cone on the end between the space behind the headlights and the headlight access cover which acts as a heat shield. It looks stock but sounds and feels good :D

[jrobie79]

ssk and clutch stop

[RAYREY]

hq's cop kit

HQ Autosport.

Thanks for the lead (unevolved) I started looking into HQ cop kit already! I also saw Bav Auto has one but states its not a cop kit!

[unevolved]

HQ Autosport.

[RAYREY]

12 years of experience I can respect

[quote=bmwman91;3418488]Based on my experience, the only "easy" M42 power mods worth a damn are a chip and a lighter flywheel. I have tried all of the other things listed in this thread over the last 12 years, and with the exception of the two things that I mentioned, they are useless. The stock air intake is great and won't be beaten by some cone filter, the COP conversion (which I invented BTW) is great for cleaning up the engine bay but makes no more power, advancing the intake cam moves the power band but causes bad mileage and an uneasy idle since the ECU's chip is programmed for a different intake profile and 4-pintle Mustang injectors don't really do anything and don't actually fit 100% properly (~2mm too short). Take it from me, I have tried it all and ended up back with a stock setup for the most part (kept the COP conversion since it is a 1-way road there lol).


I have always been a fan of dasc bit also of Turbo...I know I will end up with a Turbos set up! It;'s very timely that i have been looking into and reading into cop kit coz my plug wires just crapped out... Im doing a cop kit soon in prep for my Turbo project any suggestions on cop kits ( I see several here)? Thanks

[bmwman91]

Based on my experience, the only "easy" M42 power mods worth a damn are a chip and a lighter flywheel. I have tried all of the other things listed in this thread over the last 12 years, and with the exception of the two things that I mentioned, they are useless. The stock air intake is great and won't be beaten by some cone filter, the COP conversion (which I invented BTW) is great for cleaning up the engine bay but makes no more power, advancing the intake cam moves the power band but causes bad mileage and an uneasy idle since the ECU's chip is programmed for a different intake profile and 4-pintle Mustang injectors don't really do anything and don't actually fit 100% properly (~2mm too short). Take it from me, I have tried it all and ended up back with a stock setup for the most part (kept the COP conversion since it is a 1-way road there lol).

Someone mentioned a DASC. That will work great. It is not quite a bolt-on, but it may well be the cheapest and easiest way to make REAL power gains. Other than that, a turbo setup is a good bet. If you want to stay NA, your only options are to bore, stroke, increase compression and put hotter cams in. All of the aforementioned options require a custom chip or a stand-alone ECU and dyno time.

An internally stock M42 will not make more than 160HP at the crank with any amount of bolt-ons. I know that a lot of guys look at boring out the throttle body, putting cone filters on and grinding the intake manifolds to mate evenly, but it all does basically nothing. Stock, the M42 pulls plenty of air and there is almost no restriction seen before the intake valves. The intake ports are a little bit of a bottleneck, but opening those up is not something that any Joe Blow with a Dremel can do, and opening them up too much will start hurting the mid-range power band.

Anyway, this is my take on it after 12 years of owning & screwing around with M42 engines. I founded M42Club and still love the engine (even more now that I have a ~205BHP 2.1L NA M42!), but you have to be realistic about it. It is a good little engine (actually, it is pretty freaking big for a 4-banger) that pulls hard, sounds cool and really eggs the driver into driving the shit out of it. With the exception of a few major mechanical flaws (fairly easily to correct), it should provide years and years of fun driving while still being out-run by newer mini-vans lol.

[1Bad67]

Really?


My 318i didn't have AC...interesting.

Your not in the US. Several other Canooks have reported having the Non AC flywheels too.

[sc318]

Is the transition from the stock flywheel to a significantly lighter one really that bad? I was considering something in the 9-11lb range.

[MF DOOM]

^MarkD chip, Coil-on-plug kit, lighter FW. Not crazy light, makes it a bit trickier to drive. I have a 19lb non-ac FW & clutch on my M42.

Ive got a 11lb flywheel on my car and learning to drive it sucked.. so embarrassing. Killing my car in the middle of huge intersections (never empty intersections) and sweating everytime i see a yellow light ahead of me. its such a gnar transition, from 28lb to 11lb.



Protection:alcohol induced post.

w'sup den?

[goinstrong]

While my M42 is in an E21, (and the space in the E30 may not allow this),
I have an E21 323i flywheel installed. It REALLY helps on the low end, and revs up and down very quickly. I recommend it!

Tim

Anyone have feedback on the performance chips? I don't normally wind it out all the way, so something that improves the low and midrange area would be best for mine, since it is a DD. Thanks.

[M3Philipp]

super easy to do. pull valve cover. loosen cam gears on desired cam to advance. rotate clockwise till you reach your desired advance. clockwise when standing directly in front of your car.

Anyone did that?
How many degrees would you turn intakecam, and would you adjust outake aswell?

[rob_e30]

I'm a big fan of the Coil On Plug kits. Cheaper than new wires, way cheaper than coils and wires, and replaces both. Plus it cleans up the engine bay. Depending on the age and condition you may need new wires regardless.

Check out our website at:

http://www.hqautosport.com/products1.html

[CrusherCurtis]

DASC...not cheap though.

[KenC]

They come off e36 318 verts and 318is's i believe.


If you really want a trick LSD, you should look for a 4:45 off a 318ti

I've got the 4.44LSD out of the 318ti auto. I love city driving with it. It's high in the RPMs on the freeway, but so was the 4.10.

[bmwm42]

Chipped 4 pintle lucas injectors cop kit equals a pretty nice smooth r3ving m42 shit feels linear all the way thru 6500 rpms